China Denies IOC Criticism

The International Olympic Committee’s public statement on the matter read: “The I.O.C. regrets that political statements were made during the closing ceremony of the Torch Relay in Tibet. We have written to Bocog to remind them of the need to separate sport and politics and to ask for their support in making sure that such situations do not arise again.”

The incident in question occurred Saturday during the controversial Lhasa leg of the Olympic torch relay, when Zhang Qinglin, the Communist Party leader of Tibet, said: “Tibet’s sky will never change and the red flag with five stars will forever flutter high above it. We will certainly be able to totally smash the splittist schemes of the Dalai Lama clique.”

That remark prompted the I.O.C. to send a rare letter of reprimand to the Beijing Games organizing committee, known as Bocog. In response, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry told The Associated Press on Thursday that Zhang’s remarks did not represent politicization but instead were meant to encourage a “stable and harmonious environment for the Olympics.”

The activist group Reporters Without Borders does not think the I.O.C. rebuke is strong enough — it wants the committee to demand an outright apology from Beijing. “It is not enough for the I.O.C. to express its regret about the extreme gravity of what happened in Tibet,” the press freedom organization said in a statement. “The I.O.C.’s president, Jacques Rogge, must request a public apology from those who made these comments and from the Bocog.”

The IOC has ignored Tibetans and supporters calls to cancel the torch relay through Tibet and to hold China accountable to its promises of human rights improvements for years. Now when China makes another blatant statement linking politics and sports, (condemning the “Dalai-clique” at the opening and closing ceremonies of the Lhasa torch relay) the IOC comes out with the bold action of writing a letter to the organizers to “remind them of the need to separate sport and politics and to ask for their support in making sure that such situations do not arise again.” While the IOC falters, Tibetans continue to live under a brutal occupation in their homeland.

由於先前聖火在外國傳遞，遭到支援西藏人士強烈抗議，加上拉薩「三一四」騷亂陰影仍在，昨天聖火傳遞前，拉薩全市封城；想進入聖火傳遞路線，必須持事先核發的特別許可證，通過重重武警關卡，關卡有拒馬、蛇籠、刺釘等障礙物，沿途一字排開站滿公安和武警，警戒森嚴。